| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: bunting as it was eased past the cross-trees and handed down
on deck. 'You'll float no more on this ship,' he observed.
'Muster the people aft, Mr Hay,' he added, speaking unnecessarily
loud, 'I've a word to say to them.'
It was with a singular sensation that Herrick prepared for the
first time to address a crew. He thanked his stars indeed, that
they were natives. But even natives, he reflected, might be
critics too quick for such a novice as himself; they might
perceive some lapse from that precise and cut-and-dry English
which prevails on board a ship; it was even possible they
understood no other; and he racked his brain, and overhauled his
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Secret Places of the Heart by H. G. Wells: composition, never fear. Yet it was a curious anomaly that
while one had a thousand ways of defending one's daughter and
one's property against that daughter's husband, there was no
power on earth by which a father could stretch his dead hand
between that daughter and the undue influence of a lover.
Unless you tied her up for good and all, lover or none. . . .
One was left at the mercy of V.V.'s character. . . .
"I ought to see more of her," he thought. "She gets away from
me. Just as her mother did." A man need not suspect his
womenkind but he should know what they are doing. It is duty,
his protective duty to them. These companions, these Seyffert
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: "Where are we going?" she cried.
"How about the movies?"
"It's so hot," she complained. "You go. We'll ride around and meet you
after." With an effort her wit rose faintly, "We'll meet you on some
corner. I'll be the man smoking two cigarettes."
"We can't argue about it here," Tom said impatiently, as a truck gave
out a cursing whistle behind us. "You follow me to the south side of
Central Park, in front of the Plaza."
Several times he turned his head and looked back for their car,
and if the traffic delayed them he slowed up until they came into
sight. I think he was afraid they would dart down a side street and out
 The Great Gatsby |